Aquaponics Fish Tank Cover

The cover serves a few functions. 1. Reduces light to help curb algae growth2. Keeps leaves and other debris out of tank3. Most important: Keeps kids out to the tank! Murray Hallam of Practical Aquaponics says, in his Australian accent, “Kids and water is a dangerous mix. Kids, water and fish is diabolical.” (I just thought that was really funny.)

The cover is made from the same solid, (not laminate), hickory hardwood flooring that I used to build this project…oops I was going to reference another project but I apparently neglected to post it on LJ. I’ll add the photo here from my webpage. I will post that project here on LJ when I can access the pictures on my currently broken computer.

The “pickets” of the Tank Cover are all solid hickory. Anyone who has ever worked with hickory knows how hard and heavy it is! I didn’t have any pieces long enough for the “rails” so I used some red oak I had in the shop.

The finish: Two coats of boiled linseed oil for protection and to darken the wood a little. Followed by two coats of spar urethane for ultimate rain and UV protection.

Thanks for looking!

-- How valuable is time to a person who spends his disparaging the beliefs of others? --David Berthelette www.pilotwoodworks.com

The fish will be Tilapia. Right now I have some comets (goldfish) to cycle the system. The idea is, the fish produce ammonia through their respiration and waste. The water from the fish tank gravity feeds into the grow beds that are filled with a media. In my case, I used white river rock.

Bacteria establishes a home in the media. One type of bacteria converts the ammonia, which is poisonous to fish, into nitrites. Another bacteria type, converts the nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are plant food!

Aquaponics combines hydroponics with aquaculture. You raise fish, which you can consume if so desired, and vegetables organically without the need of the nutrient solutions required in hydroponics. You are creating a mini ecosystem.

The grow beds filter and clean the water for the fish and the plants consume the nutrients produced by the nitrification process. (The nitrogen cycle.)

Temperature is not a problem for me as I live in sunny South West Florida. Tilapia are a tropical fish with a wide range of temperature tolerance.

As far as the dark…it’s not completely dark in the tank. Some light gets in through the slots in the cover. Fish actually like dimly lit environments so it is beneficial to them as well.

It’s all really cool and fun. Plant growth is amazing.

-- How valuable is time to a person who spends his disparaging the beliefs of others? --David Berthelette www.pilotwoodworks.com